If you’re at a work event (e.g. a conference)If you’re off sickIf you’re working from a different location
I will always assume it is an inability to interact in an adult fashion with the world of technology. There is no good reason to avoid voicemails so aggressively – those that are doing so should probably be seeking therapy to overcome their issues with technology and/or the human voice. A lot of us process text faster and more accurately than speech, especially poor-audio-quality speech recorded by someone who didn’t bother to leave all the relevant information. Most voice mails are bad.
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We’ve certainly come a long way since the honeymoon days of You’ve Got Mail, the 1998 Meg Ryan romcom in which each new electronic missive set Tom Hanks’ heart fluttering (and vice versa). These days, in tech circles, you’ll hear tales of folk who’ve set their email servers up to automatically delete unread emails after a week – before going on holiday for a full fortnight. Others have reduced the OOO to a single word in the subject line: “Nope.”
This particular message is too freakin long and it makes me watch it, too. Har har, thanks for wasting my time.
I misread that at first and thought you’d said that a random picture of a employee popped up, and was momentarily horrified at the thought of my face appearing on my co-workers screens!
Email is one of the top tools for business communication. People expect swift responses to their requests. If this expectation will not be met because you are away from your desk, your client or colleague needs to know.
Happy holidays! I am currently out of the office, with no email access. I’ll be returning on (insert date) and will get back to you as soon as I can.
Inform your landlord that you will be closing down for the holiday – exact dates and timeAdvise your staff not to disclose to everyone your office is empty for the holidaysCancel or reschedule any possible deliveries or services (i.e. newspapers, postcards, packages, suppliers)Advise any business-related deliveries or clients about the close down datesAdvise the office cleaner of closure dates. Organise a thorough clean when office is emptySet your answer machine message with emergency contact messageSet an “out of office” auto-reply emailOrder supplies needed in January and ensure delivery isn’t during the closure period
Apologies, but I’m currently knee-deep in sushi and shrines on the other side of the world in Japan. I will be back to the usual tea and crumpets when I return to the office on Tuesday 30th May.
Should the matter be important, please contact Jim Ross ([email protected]) in my absence. Kind regards.
I’m the same. I don’t find it condescending, it’s kinda eye-rolly but also kinda charming! I get why it could be annoying if you need info quickly. But really, why not inject a little silliness into boilerplate messages like this, as long as it’s not disrespectful or really out of step with your field culture?
I am on annual leave until [DD/MM/YY]. I will allow each sender one email and if you send me multiple emails, I will randomly delete your emails until there is only one remaining. Choose wisely.
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In the normal times, my friends and I used to do “Crawl 4 Cancer” which is a bar crawl (aka debauchery day) where all proceeds go to cancer research. It’s great! But…yEEah, we’re not crawling FOR cancer…we’re very much against it! We laugh about it every year and the jokes never get old.
Co-sign. HATE THAT. We use Outlook and there’s a banner across the top that says AUTOMATIC REPLIES ARE BEING SENT. Just click the button to stop them!
I used to hire a lot (hundreds) of freelance writers who would each be given a deadline by which their particular project was due. As these were large projects, they typically would have several months to complete them. I soon discovered that a significant number of freelancers (at least 25% if I’m remembering correctly) would email a couple of days before their assignment was due to report the sad news that they would be missing their deadline because “someone close to [them] had just died”.
Why It’s Important That Your Business Has A Good Quality Website Sep 8 - The world has transformed its ways of searching businesses, products, services, etc., from manual telephone books to the internet. Not… Read More »